Large shipment of baby formula from Australia lands at LAX
Parents in need of some baby formula may finally get some relief.
A cargo plane containing a large shipment with 95,000 tins of baby formula inside from Australian company Bubs Australia touched down at Los Angeles International Airport on Sunday, as part of President Joe Biden's "Operation Fly Formula," initiative, which paid for the large shipments to be brought to Los Angeles.
The shipment that arrived Sunday will be heading to Ralph's, Food-4-less, Albertsons, Vons and Pavilions and is expected to be stocked on the shelves by next week.
The recent shortage in baby formula dates back to February, when Abbott Nutrition shut down its production of baby formula due to a safety recall that was administered by the Food and Drug Administration.
Four baby formula products that were impacted by the recall were Similac, Alimentum and EleCare.
The hope is that this shipment of baby formula will provide some relief for Southern California mothers, who have faced price gouging and shortages in recent months trying to get formula for their babies.
"At the end of the day it's the only thing small small children can have. It's their nutrition, it's not a luxury," Shanie Harrold said.
Less than a month ago, the FDA put out a call for international suppliers to apply for approval to sell formula in the United States. Since Aussie Bubs already is approved for toddler products in the U.S. — they became the first to put their product on shelves.
"I'm very pleased to now be in a position where we can help the situation," Bubs CEO Kristy Carr said. "We are very passionate about feeding the next generation of children with clean, safe, and reliable infant nutrition products."
